The invention relates to a compact portable seat or stool that can be easily carried and set up against a tree, post, wall, etc. The invention is particularly useful for hunters, bird watchers, golf watchers, event watchers, etc.
Portable seats or stools are well known and there are a variety available, but all have disadvantages or shortcomings. It is desirable that the seat provide a back rest because that is more restful. However, portable seats having a backrest light enough to carry substantial distances, such as aluminum lawn chairs or beach chairs, are too bulky and cumbersome, particularly if other things are also being carried, like a gun for hunting, a large umbrella, a cooler, etc.
Portable seats for attaching to trees or posts such that the tree or post can be used as a backrest are known. U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,994 discloses three such portable seats or stools. The first consists of a flat member for resting against a tree or post and having a chain that can go around the tree and attach to each side of the top of the flat member to hold it against the tree. A second flat seat member is pivoted at one end to the top of the first flat member. The second flat member has a third flat member support pivotly mounted about midway to the underneath side of the second flat member. When the second flat member or seat is pivoted out to form a generally horizontal seat, the third member forms a support between the first and second members to hold the seat in place. This seat is compact but has several disadvantages. It cannot be used against a flat wall because there would be no way to hold it on the wall and it cannot be attached to a large tree or large post without the help of a second person, and even then would require a long chain which would be a nuisance. Also, since the first member is flat, it would tend to twist on a round tree since it would be resting on a crowned ridge instead of a flat surface.
The second portable seat disclosed is also disclosed in a separate patent which will be discussed below. The third portable seat comprises a flat member with a clawed V-shaped arrangement on each end with straps at each end for wrapping around a tree or post to secure the seat against the tree or post. A seat, pivotly attached at one end to the flat member, can be raised to form a generally horizontal seat and folding supports, like those used on card table legs, hold the seat in place. This seat suffers the same shortcomings as the first seat discussed above and one more. One end of this seat system is supported on the ground or on tree roots with two V-shaped legs, but at a spot very close to the trunk of the tree. On many trees a person would like to sit against, the tree base would taper out such that it would appear to preclude the safe use of this seat.
The second seat shown in the above patent is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,600,081. This portable seat attempts to address the problem of instability by the use of a cradle like frame to rest against a tree. The frame is held to the tree with a chain passing around the tree and thus suffers the shortcomings of not being useful against a wall or convenient for use on a large tree or large post.
Another portable seat is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,143 and consists of a fabric seat having a rope attached along one side and two legs attached at the corners of an opposite side. The rope must be tied around a tree or post giving this seat the disadvantages mentioned above. In addition, it appears that it could not be used with a small tree or post, i. e. one about 6-8 inches in diameter, and a person's weight would tend to form a sling seat that would be harder to get out of quickly compared to a flat seat. Another sling seat illustrated in U.S. Design Pat. No. 320,460 suffers similar shortcomings.
There is also one or more portable seats that screw into a tree or post, but the disadvantages of this seat in the time and difficulty required to attach and to remove the seat are obvious. Also, there would be times when it would be undesirable to deface a tree, etc. with one or more screws.
Another portable hunting seat is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,643. This seat is supported only by the ground on four legs and has the distinct disadvantage of needing fairly level and even ground surface to be stable and useful as intended.
A portable stool is needed that is compact, lightweight, safe, sturdy, and can be easily and quickly set up by one person against a generally vertical surface such as a wall, post, tree, etc., and which can be used on uneven or slanted ground and will allow the user to use the generally vertical surface as a backrest and then can be easily removed and broken or folded down to a compact mode for carrying and storage. The seat should also allow the user to quickly stand up, and preferably to pivot around from side to side while sitting when desired.